Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 16:2 (Fall 2011)
Article: The (Abstract) Art of Manliness
Author: Phillip R. Bethancourt

JBMW 16:2 (Fall 2011) p. 49

The (Abstract) Art of Manliness

A Review of Brett and Kate McKay, The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man. Cincinnati, OH: How Books, 2009.

Phillip Bethancourt

Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management

Instructor of Christian Theology

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Louisville, Kentucky

Could a man become a master artist simply by visiting his local museum to observe the artwork? Not likely. But his night at the museum could spark a passion for art that develops into a lifetime pursuit of painting. In The Art of Manliness: Classic Skills and Manners for the Modern Man, authors Brett and Kate McKay take men on a guided tour of the art of manhood with the goal of igniting a “lifetime pursuit of the art of manliness” (264).

Building on the success of their popular website of the same name, the McKays write this book to overcome the modern crisis of manhood by encouraging “a new generation of men to pick up where their grandfathers left off in the history and legacy of manliness” (2). Highlighting skills ranging from treating snake bites to changing diapers, the book argues that “manliness doesn’t need to be reinvented. The art of manliness just needs to be rediscovered” (2). Though the McKays are Mormon and write the book from a largely secular vantage point, The Art of Manliness calls for a return to virtuous masculinity that can help evangelicals evaluate the status of biblical manhood in the church.

The Art of Manliness recognizes that there is a crisis of manhood in contemporary culture. According to the authors, manly virtues have disappeared in the last fifty years. To fill the void, manliness has become associated with “dithering dads ... shallow action dudes ... and the meatheads of men’s magazines” (2). The cause of this lapse is that, “in too many cases, fathers have stopped passing down the art of manliness to the next generation” (144). As a result, what the culture sees is “a bunch of boys walking around in men’s bodies” (117). This manhood crisis extends even to evangelical churches and families. How can Christians address the issue?

Several ideas that frame the McKays’ discussion of manliness can shape the recovery of biblical manhood in evangelical churches and homes. First, The Art of Manliness realizes that recovering manhood requires a model. For their model, the McKays look back to an abstract golden age of masculinity in which “manliness was a worthy and distinct characteristic” (1). The Bible makes it clear, however, that humanity has been looking back for a golden age of male headship ever since Adam rejected it...